Silencers for Air Guns-Are they Legal??

The constitution

A few years ago I had a conversation with a French national - explaining the wisdom of the founding fathers writing the right to bar arms in our country's constitution. That this was to guarantee our rights by offsetting the power of the government or worse, an invading force.

This was dismissed are pure illusary because of the might of our polioce and armed forces and the government's ability to deny basic facilities like water and power. My sense was then that out right to bare arms was still a prudent measure balance.

Now in Iraq we have seen just how effective an armed civilian population can be, even against the world's most powerful army. I contend my French friend was wrong. Don't get me wrong, I hate the war personnaly and it has taken a grave toll on my family. But it objectively demonstrates that any government should think long and hard before choosing an armed response to resolving conflict in an armed nation instead of diplomatic means.

Now we have arrived in this country to a place where we have all but given up our right to own a gun. My sense is these laws should be repealed. In the immortal words of Benjamin franklin - "Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither."

The fact that the population could be duped into outlawing a threaded metal tube is an alarming indicator we are headed in the wrong direction.
 
So air guns are firearms? I they wil shoot as automatics, dosent that make them subject to NFA rules then? Seems the supressor would be a moot point.
 
Suppressors are NFA items in and of themselves. Doesn't matter what you PLAN to use them on--only what they CAN be used on. That's why the only way to be safe is to make the suppressor integral to the airgun so that it can't be detached.
 
Yes. This is what I meant when I said it's an island of perfectly legal activity (having a supressor on an airgun) surronded by a sea of laws preventing yoo from getting there.

I suppose you could buy all the components and weld each one, one at a time to the barrel as you build it. That way you're never in possession of a silencer apart from the integral design completed in-place on the airgun.
 
solution

Contruct the silencer from tape and paper products. They are durable for a reasonable amount of rounds.

There are two key factors for preventing violation of any law: First, contruct the device directly on the airgun (no complete structures can exist off the airgun, lest they present a possibility of being afixed to a firearm) and second, construct the device in such a way that will be totally destroyed at any attempt to remove it from the airgun (easy to do with tape and paper).
 
The loop hole is not based upon the materials themselves but the combined effect of the process and materials.

Any substance concerntrated at the muzzle that will slow the release of gas without detrimental degradation of the projectile's trajectory will effectively supress any firearm - no doubts paper and tape will do that. If you make one, you have yourself a serious "make firearm", NFA problem. Whether or not you agree with the law, there's little doubt you're breaking it.

The loop hole is made by two key distinctions that I believe place the process and its result outside the qualifying description: 1 - at no time is a suppressor constructed apart from the airgun and 2 - that by no means could the completed design be removed from the airgun without completely destroying its construction.

You'd end up with a wod of paper and tape - as likely a suppressor as any other collection of gas permiable, low density objects you find in your house - socks, toilet paper, dish rags, etc.

So it's the process and the materials. The process avoids the existence of a suppressor apart from the airgun, the material prevents its in-tact removal, Combined they make it impossible to be used on any firearm.

Then again, I'm not a lawyer. If it does violate the law, I'm interesting in learning how.
 
Silencers on Paintball and Pellet Guns

There are several high-end pellet guns that have intrigal suppressors in them. You can order these guns right online and they ship directly to your door. I dont know how these are ok, and home-made units for the same are not...???

HOWEVER...

My cousin's friend got nailed to the wall for making a silencer out film canisters for his pellet gun, and another one out of PVC pipe for his paint-ball gun. He did get off on the charges with a severe slap on the wrist... because his attorney was so damn good. (thankfull this kids parents were well-to-do).

I seriously do not know what in the hell the BATF&E was thinking? Witch-hunting a child like that? Granted this happened during the Clinton administration timeframe, when the ATF prosecuted law-abiding citizens more harshly than criminals (and sometimes they still do...), but for legal *risks* I wouldn't try it. I know there is a LOT of ways the manufacturing law can be interprited, its not a wise decision to make that choice on your own.

If you really want to know, write the question down and mail it to your local ATF office.... then call them and ask. (You want to write them because they are legally REQUIRED to respond to all written coorospondance reguarding clarification or verification of laws/regulations.. this way you have the SAIC's written response). When push comes to shove, it comes down to that Field Office's views and interpretations of the laws that will direct your local DA to file a motion for arrest, and if they are unwilling to, the ATF will get a Federal Judge to sign off on the motion. The ATF will always wait for the judge or DA to sign off on their request before they perform the actual arrest... they cannot just come onto your property at will nor can they search your premisis without your consent or warrant. That is if you own the property.. If you rent... I hope you are friends with your landlord... because if he gives permission for them to enter your place, your hosed.... so if you rent... HIDE your $hi*! :-)... Even with the landlords permission, they cannot search. they can only file charges on what is out in the open.

Play is safe! DO NOT SPECULATE or INTERPRET THE LAW YOURSELF. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, IGNORE THE FORUMS AND GO DIRECTLY TO THE BATF&E! Its just my 2-cents worth.....
 
Any substance concerntrated at the muzzle that will slow the release of gas without detrimental degradation of the projectile's trajectory will effectively supress any firearm - no doubts paper and tape will do that. If you make one, you have yourself a serious "make firearm", NFA problem.
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Right. Problem is, an airgun is not a "firearm" under federal law, IINM. So none of that matters or applies. Suppress to your heart's content, I do believe. But the above advice is good about writing the BATFE to be sure.
 
Problem is, an airgun is not a "firearm" under federal law, IINM.
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If the device constructed is considered a silencer by the BATF, it's regulated in and of itself--regardless of what it is attached to or what you intend to attach it to.
 
#1 A suppressor is a suppressor regardless of what it is being used on.

#2 To own a suppressor you have to fill out the paperwork and get the 200 dollar tax stamp.

#3 Many people have said things like its just for a paintball gun or its just for a bb gun. Those people found out the hard way the GOV does not care.

#4 Make no mistake a suppressor is a NFA weapon. It does not make a difference what is is going on.
 
I am surely late, but I will step in from the paintball gun aspect.

I contacted BATFE about 3 years ago asking about suppressing the volume of my paintball gun, and was given the go-ahead for my idea... since it was neither a permanent or detachable item... or even an item at all, really.

I had a small chunk of fiberglass that was left over from a repacking job on the exhaust of my 4 wheeler. All I did was wrap duct tape ONCE around each end. Make sure you leave it open... if you have a fully closed off area, you have just overstepped your bounds. They said this was fine, since there was no shell/casing and since I would have to literally destroy the fiberglass to remove it from the barrel.


FYI - it didnt do anything anyway. It just slightly altered the report.. thus making me much easier to find mid-game. After about 5 minutes into a game, I pulled the fiberglass off and trashed it.



On another note... when it comes to paintball guns, there is no way of making anything permanent or integral... the barrel is still removable. Since the barrel is about the same size as a normal 22LR suppressor, this is a HUGE no no.
 
If the device constructed is considered a silencer by the BATF, it's regulated in and of itself--regardless of what it is attached to or what you intend to attach it to.
Click to expand...

Oh, ok, gotcha - sorry, I'm dense....
 
Chris,

Thats interesting. Action Pursuit advertised silencers years back when I use to
look through their magazine. I wonder if they just were not very effective or
if those companies were walking on thin ice.
 
I talked to ATF on this very matter just over 20 yrs ago. I asked about suppressing an airgun since the airgun was not considered a firearm. I was told that so long as it could not be made to work on a firearm it would be legal. So I took the airgun I had at the time that I wanted suppressed, turned down and ported the barrel, and made end collars to hold a very thin walled tube on the barrel which was packed with cotton. It worked great. if you removed the end collars, the whole thing became a bunch of loose parts due to the ends not being attached to the tube. Also, Even if you were to put it on a barrel, you would first have to turn it down, or bore out the collars, and port the barrel. This is modifying the firearm. Therefore, it will not attach to and suppress a firearm without modification to the firearm first. Simply threading the muzzle would not be sufficient. During the AWB, and even now, you can screw a muzzle attachment to the end of a rifle's barrel and then blind pin it and the attachment is considered permanently attached and the threads not to exist. This is legal. Simply drilling out the blind pin will undo this, but that doesn't matter because machining is required to facilitate the removal.
 
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